A high-quality print of the leather-bound cover of the Réunion des Tuileries au Louvre album, featuring the gold-tooled imperial crest of Napoleon III.

This image depicts the cover of the second volume of the Réunion des Tuileries au Louvre, a photographic record commissioned during the reign of Napoleon III. Édouard Denis Baldus, a photographer of German-French origin, documented the architectural expansion and connection of the Tuileries Palace to the Louvre Museum. The project was a significant undertaking for the French state, intended to record the progress of the construction work overseen by architects Louis Visconti and Hector Lefuel.

The cover itself is a fine example of mid-nineteenth-century bookbinding. It features a deep green leather surface, characteristic of the period's preference for dark, formal materials. At the centre, a gold-tooled imperial crest displays the eagle of the Second Empire, surmounted by a crown. The corners are decorated with the letter N, representing Napoleon III, also rendered in gold leaf. The texture of the leather remains visible, showing the natural grain and the wear consistent with a historical object of this age.

Baldus was selected for this commission due to his technical skill in architectural photography. His work provided a precise visual account of the urban transformation of Paris. While the interior of the album contains his photographic plates, the cover functions as a formal presentation piece, designed to reflect the authority and ambition of the imperial administration. The use of gold tooling against the dark leather creates a stark contrast, typical of official government publications of the 1850s. This print captures the physical presence of the album, preserving the tactile quality of the binding and the specific iconography associated with the Second Empire. It offers a glimpse into the material culture surrounding the documentation of major architectural projects in nineteenth-century France.